Tapered railway apparatus

ABSTRACT

A railway having rails with tapered ends. The tapered ends may lie flush with one another. A connector plate may connect the tapered ends of the rails together. The tapered ends and the connector plate may allow the railway to expand and contract due to temperature or high speed trains without misalignment or distortion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisionalapplication No. 61/678,512, filed Aug. 1, 2012, the contents of whichare herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tapered railway and, moreparticularly, to a tapered railway with an connector plate that allowsfor expansion.

The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, isthe structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties andballast (or slab track), plus the underlying subgrade. At hightemperatures, rigid rails expand and buckle, causing rail bed damage,slow downs, and derailing. The rigid joints do not allow rails to adjustto temperature changes.

As can be seen, there is a need for a railway that allows for expansionand contraction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a railway apparatus comprises: aplurality of rails comprising a head, a web, a foot, a first side and asecond side, and ends, wherein the plurality of railways comprises atleast a first rail and a second rail, wherein the first rail comprises ataper from the first side to the second side and the second railcomprises a taper from the first side to the second side opposite of thetaper of the first rail; and a connector plate connecting the pluralityof rails together, wherein the connector plate comprises a first sideand a second side, wherein the first side is connected to the first railand the second side is connected to the second rail, wherein at leastone of the first side and the second side comprises expansion slotsfacilitating the lateral movement of the first rail and the second railrelative to the connector plate.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdrawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective detail view of the present inventiondemonstrating a flush rail tapered joint;

FIG. 2 is a perspective detail view of the present inventiondemonstrating an expanded rail tapered joint;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the present invention demonstrating the taperingof joint;

FIG. 4 is a perspective detail of the present invention demonstratingthe use of a flanged spike;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the flanged spike of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the flanged spike of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a section detail view of the present invention along line 7-7in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the present invention demonstrating useof the stepped flange; and

FIG. 9 is a section detail view of the present invention along line 9-9in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplatedmodes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. Thedescription is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merelyfor the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention,since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a railwayhaving rails with tapered ends. The tapered ends may lie flush with oneanother. A connector plate may connect the tapered ends of the railstogether. The tapered ends and the connector plate may allow the railwayto expand and contract due to temperature or high speed trains withoutmisalignment or distortion.

The present invention may include a high speed rail system that isresistant to impact and heat distortion. The present invention mayeliminate rail distortion due to temperature variations and preventsjoin impact at rail connections allowing for continuous high speedoperations. The present invention may include rail ends having angledtapers instead of square butt-joined allowing continuous wheel supportacross the joint. In certain embodiments, the present invention mayfurther include slippage plates to allow the expansion and contractionof the rails without distortion.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 9, In certain embodiments, the presentinvention may include rails 10 with tapered end joints 12. The rails 10may include a head 28, a web 30, a foot 14, a first side 32 and a secondside 34. The taper may be from the first side 32 to the second side 34,which may mate with a rail with a taper from the second side 34 to thefirst side 32. The rail 10 with the tapered joints 12 may allow thewheels of a train to cross the tapered joints 12 smoothly. The taperedjoints 12 may allow lateral movement of the rails to compensate forexpansion and contraction.

The present invention may further include connector plates 16 thatconnect the tapered end joints 12 together. The connector plates 16 maybe bolted onto the first side 32 and the second side 24 of the web 30.In certain embodiments, the connector plates 16 may have a first sidethat is securely fasted to the web 30 and a second side that may includeexpansion slots 18. The expansion slots 18 may have a larger width thanthe bolts 36 that secure the connector plates 16 to the rail 10.Therefore, the connector plates 16 may move along the bolts 36 and theconnector plate 16 allows lateral movement between the tapered endjoints 12.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the tapered end joints 12 are connected. Whentemperature rises or the trains are running at high speeds, the rails 12tend to expand and therefore become damages. However, as illustrated inFIG. 2, when the rails 12 expand, the connector plates 16 may shift. Inparticular, the expansions slots 18 may move along the bolts 36 andtherefore the rails 12 may give with the expansion. Therefore, thepresent invention may prevent damage of the railway, which saves on thecost of repair.

The rails 10 of the present invention may be mounted to the cross ties20 by flanged spikes 22. In certain embodiments, a stepped flange 24 maybe used. The stepped flange 24 may include a first end and an elevatedsecond end. The first end of the stepped flange 24 may be secured to thecross tie 20 by a spike 26. The elevated second end may be secured overthe foot 14 of the rail 10. Therefore, the stepped flange 24 may securethe rail 10 to the cross tie 20 while allowing limited rail 10 slippagewithout distortion of the rail bed.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates toexemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A railway apparatus comprising: a plurality ofrails comprising a head, a web, a foot, a first side and a second side,and ends, wherein the plurality of railways comprises at least a firstrail and a second rail, wherein the first rail comprises a taper fromthe first side to the second side and the second rail comprises a taperfrom the first side to the second side opposite of the taper of thefirst rail; a connector plate connecting the plurality of railstogether, wherein the connector plate comprises a first side and asecond side, wherein the first side is connected to the first rail andthe second side is connected to the second rail, wherein at least one ofthe first side and the second side comprises expansion slotsfacilitating the lateral movement of the first rail and the second railrelative to the connector plate.
 2. The railway apparatus of claim 1, abolt having a width smaller than the expansion slot connects theconnector plate to the at least one of the first rail and the secondrail through the expansion slot.
 3. The railway apparatus of claim 1,further comprising flanged spikes, wherein the flanged spikes mount thefoot of the rail to a cross tie.
 4. The railway apparatus of claim 1,further comprising a stepped flange comprising a first end and anelevated second end, wherein the first end is mounted to a cross tie bya pike and the second end covers foot of the rail over the cross tie.